Iranian Missile Barrage Tests Trump’s ‘Mission Accomplished’ Claim, Hormuz Remains Shut

Tehran’s use of the Hormuz chokepoint mirrors past leverage plays: during the 1984-88 ‘Tanker War’ it mined the same strait, prompting Operation Earnest Will; in 1956 Egypt’s closure of the Suez Canal similarly rippled far beyond the region. Today’s crisis fits a century-long pattern in which control of maritime chokepoints can neutralise superior firepower and reshape energy markets. Trump’s insistence that others police Hormuz recalls Britain’s east-of-Suez retreat in 1971 and signals a broader U.S. swing toward burden-shifting, while Iran’s rapid retaliation shows that decapitation strikes rarely end wars quickly—a lesson the 2003 Iraq invasion should have taught. On a 100-year horizon, whether a mid-tier power can permanently monetise a global artery—or whether a coalition can re-establish free navigation—will influence not just oil prices but the viability of the current, U.S.–centred security order.